Christiane Amanpour
CNN Chief International Correspondent

North Korea’s Kim Jong Il is the world’s most mysterious leader presiding over the world’s most closed society. So trying to pin down any information about him is incredibly difficult. A US intelligence official today says that for the past few weeks Kim has been suffering from serious health problems which could include a possible stroke.

This could provoke an international crisis, since so little is known about the inner workings of North Korea, a country which has already tested a nuclear weapon…but which has now started down the long path towards disarmament.

I have made two trips to North Korea this year, first in February to cover the historic visit to Pyongyang by the New York Philharmonic orchestra, and then in June to witness North Korea blow up the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear plant. But I had hoped also to be there today, to cover the mass-games ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state. However, we never received visas, and Kim Jong Il was a “no-show” on the reviewing stand.

The White House, and the State Department also seem to be in the dark, as evidenced today by Spokesman Sean McCormack

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Today North Korea destroyed a water cooling tower at a facility where officials acknowledge they extracted plutonium to build nuclear weapons, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour reported from the scene. Wanted to share two clips with you today:

Here is the footage from the demolition:

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…Here’s a vlog from CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, sharing what it was like to watch history being made in Yongbyon, North Korea.

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour reports on North Korea’s planned destruction of a nuclear cooling tower

I’m back in Seoul, South Korea after four days in communist North Korea covering the New York Philharmonic’s historic concert in Pyongyang.  What a life-changing experience.  Being in that concert hall while the orchestra played the “Star-Spangled Banner” before a mostly North Korean crowd was surreal.  There were tears in the audience and in the orchestra during the finale, “Arirang,” the most famous Korean folk song on both sides of the DMZ.  “Arirang” is about the longing for reunion.

Alina Cho reporting from Pyongyang, North Korea

North Korea is truly like no other place on earth.  In the capital of Pyongyang, the roads are paved, but the streets are empty. Owning a car is a luxury.  There are department stores, but no shoppers.

It’s so sad to see how people live there, without adequate food or heat. But the North Koreans I met were exceedingly warm.  The elevator attendant at the hotel told me more than once he hopes I can come back to Pyongyang.  My government guide — remember, journalists are not allowed to go anywhere without a so-called “minder” — told me that when I talked about how my own family struggled during the Korean War, he was impressed.  He said officially he couldn’t comment, but as a human being, he was moved.  That touched me.

Finally, though I was there for professional reasons, I was also on a personal mission.  Two of my dad’s uncles disappeared during the Korean War.  Nobody in my family knows whether they were kidnapped or defected because they were never seen again. My family believes — if they are still alive — they are in North Korea.  I had sent a letter to the North Korean government in hopes that they could track my relatives down and that I could meet them while I was there.  It was not to be, at least not this time.  The government told me there was simply not enough time to find them.  I still have hope, and I’m certain I’ll be back someday in Pyongyang. 

- Alina Cho, CNN Correspondent 

A day after the New York Philharmonic’s triumphant debut in Pyongyang, I was invited for tea and a chat with North Korea’s chief nuclear negiotiator at the Foreign Ministry. It was an exclusive meeting, but off camera, and Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan was evidently basking in the aftermath of the orchestra’s successful trip.

The cooling tower of a 5 Megawatt nuclear reactor is seen at the Yongbyon Nuclear Center in North Korea

Relaxed and welcoming, he called it “wonderful and very successful art-diplomacy.”  I was stunned when he laughed and said the performance of the US national anthem anywhere in North Korea, much less in a full public outing in an unprecedented live brodcast to the nation, “was a political breakthrough” that took “great political courage…the courage of both nations.” Mr. Kim reminded me the U.S. and North Korea are afterall still technically at war; only an armistice was signed to end the Korean conflict in 1953.

A day before the concert I had been allowed exclusive access to their Yongbyon nuclear facility, where with U.S. technical expertise, they shut down the plant last summer, and are disabling it. He told me that it is 90% done, and that despite slowing down the process while they wait for the U.S. to fulfill its promises in return, such as lifting sanctions, they remain committed to the nuclear talks and disarmament process.

As for the Philharmonic’s performance, the ovations, the applause and the waving, he seemed as suprised as everyone else who watched at the enthusistic reaction of the North Korean audience and the American musicians, telling me the visit would contribute to better understanding between the two nations. As I left after about an hour of conversation through an interpreter, Minister Kim kye Gwan noted “music can be communicted between people without any interpreters.”

- Christiane Amanpour, Chief International Correspondent

My cell phone and blackberry were confiscated by the North Koreans when I entered the country, but I was given a government issued cell phone, so I was able to call in this blog to my producer in New York. 

The 105 storey Ryugyong hotel which began construction in 1987 but remins incomplete due to a lack of funding in Pyongyang

I traveled with the New York Philharmonic to Pyongyang.  It’s the first time an American orchestra has been invited to play in this secretive country.  The Philharmonic included both the North Korean and the U.S. national anthems in its opening concert. 

Seeing and hearing this premier American orchestra play “The Star Spangled Banner” for a North Korean audience was something else. 

The concert ended with the Korean folk song “Arirang,” one of the few popular on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea.  It’s a love song about longing and reunion. 

That song brought back childhood memories for violinist Michelle Kim, one of eight Korean-Americans in the orchestra tonight.  Michelle’s parents were born in the North but fled south during the Korean War, never to see their homeland again. 

Michelle says she has a sense of awe visiting the country where her parents were born. She calls herself the “eyes and ears” for her parents, since it’s likely they will never have a chance to go back to the North.

Michelle also expressed sadness at being in North Korea because the people are, in her words “so bright” yet the country is still divided.  I’ll have more on her story on 360° tonight.

-Alina Cho, 360° Correspondent

Check out more CNN reports on this historic trip to North Korea

On a cold, blustery Pyongyang morning, the warm glow of musical friendship cuts through the chill…News of the New York Philharmonic’s historic concert here in North Korea is on the front page of the daily communist worker’s newspaper.

I’m in the Beijing International airport right now, waiting to board my flight with the New York Philharmonic to Pyongyang.  This is the last chance I have to send an email or make a phone call before I board my flight because the North Koreans will confiscate all of our phones and blackberries once we arrive in the country. 

This is the first time an American orchestra has ever been invited to play in the North. The musicians are excited and understandably a little nervous, not only about performing well musically, but also about being pseudo-ambassadors for America.  They want to make a good impression on the North Korean people, who have largely been taught that Americans are the enemy.

For one orchestra member in particular this trip is personal.  Violinist Michelle Kim’s parents are originally from North Korea but because of persecution, they fled to the south during the Korean War.  Michelle’s father has horrible memories from the war but he’s proud that his daughter can travel to North Korea and see the land where he was born.

I ran into Michelle at our hotel in Beijing. She was in good spirits, excited to go into North Korea.  She had all these CDs, DVDs and sheet music to give as gifts to the North Korean musicians. In her words, she’s trying to “give them the world” since they have no access to anything outside the country.

My feelings right now might be similar to Michelle’s, since my parents also suffered during the Korean War.  The story of her family and my family are representative of thousands and thousands of Korean families, many of them ripped apart during the war.  Two of my dad’s uncles disappeared during the war and we believe they ended up living in North Korea, though we don’t know if that was by choice or if they were kidnapped.  I’ll have more on both Michelle’s story and my own tomorrow night on AC360.

-Alina Cho, 360° Correspondent